Two Steps Left
by AdorkableIsLife
Summary: Taylor is The Gamer. Taylor is very happy about this. Being Taylor is NOT Suffering.


Disclaimer: I don't own Worm, The Gamer, or anything else that pops up, I just like mucking about in other people's sandboxes. Worm is a self-published web serial by John C. "Wildbow" McCrae. The Gamer(Manhwa) is a webtoon created by Sung Sang-Young, hosted by Naver Webtoon, and published by Line Webtoon.

Warning: M18 — There will be very mature language and definitely violence to the extreme, because this is a Worm fanfic, so do not read unless you are of age.

 **Trigger Warning:** DO NOT READ if you're troubled by dark themes. Seriously, Worm takes place in a rather dark world.

* * *

"Talking"

 _Emphasis_

 _'Thoughts'_

*Sound Effects*

 **Chapter One: In which Taylor is The Gamer**

.

.

.

A pair of shoulders with the weight of the world on them heaved in exhaustion, tired sighs escaping as the woman peeled off her jacket and collapsed into bed for some much needed rest. The fedora on her head rolled free, and as she reached over to place it upon a bedpost, a question that she had asked countless times before came to this woman's mind. It wasn't something she could Path, the greatest enemy was a blindspot, but she had long since modeled the monster based upon what they had discovered about their kind. _'Path to recruiting a Cape powerful enough to slay Entities as a member of the Protectorate or Wards.'_ The woman's eyes widened incredulously, even as she fell out of bed with a startled yelp. _'Two Steps Left.'_

Contessa didn't know _why_ she had to call Madison Clements and give the girl the mother of all guilt trips, but she moved so fast you'd think her ass was on fire. It didn't even occur to her that her power was being lazy, having given her two very simple and non-precise instructions.

 **I-O-I**

 **I—I**

 **I-O-I**

 ***Ding!***

 **— Strength plus one!**

Taylor ginned as she stopped doing pushups and rolled over on her back, a sigh of utter content escaping wide lips. The feeling of the cold concrete floor against her flesh was something akin to heavenly, if she were to put words to it. Despite not being able to become truly exhausted these days, thanks to [Gamer's Body], she could still feel the burn when pushing herself to the limit. The fact that she didn't require sustenance or rest only allowed her to push those limits farther than any other person without power shenanigans doing something in their favor.

Idly, she wondered if this was how Miss Militia felt sometimes. Not having the need to sleep meant that she had more time to train, more time to give herself an advantage over adversaries. There was no doubt in her mind that the woman had learned much over the years. Taylor herself was planning to broaden her horizons as much as possible, for fun if not practicality itself.

Biting her lip to stop herself from smiling like an idiot, she lifted one leg and took hold of it, stretching until her foot touched the floor _above_ her head. Taylor held the pose for several minutes before switching legs, then arching her back and doing a handstand, dropping both legs until she was doing a split in midair.

 ***Ding!***

 **— Dexterity plus one!**

This sort of routine continued for several minutes...

 ***Ding!***

 **— [Flexibility Lv.32] → [Flexibility Lv.33]**

A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she found herself able to bend _just_ a little bit further, already beyond natural human capability if she was correct about her estimates. Walking on her hands, she kept going until her legs touched a steel bar. Looping her legs around the bar, she locked herself on and started doing crunches upside down, her long curly black tresses of hair swaying with the motion. Thanks to the sports bra she was wearing, she had a perfect view of her rock solid abs that had been _earned_ not all that long ago.

Truly, her power is bullshit. It had taken _one night_ of working out like a maniac to lose the pudgy frog belly, replacing it with a toned tummy, and by now she had an amazonian physique overall.

Literally, it was a perk called [Amazonian Physique] that had unlocked when she reached fifty points in all of her physical stats. The perk molded her body more into an ideal and powerful lithe form as her stats increased. Taylor had ignored [Robust Physique] when it was offered to her, because she would rather not look like a bodybuilder. While she would drool over muscular men(and sometimes women), it just wasn't the kind of body she'd wanted for herself. Looking like an amazon though?

Taylor had sincerely hoped that her power was using Wonder Woman as inspiration and she'd not been disappointed.

 ***Ding!***

 **— Vitality plus one!**

Taylor paused, hanging upside down. "Status."

 **[-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-]**

 **Name: Taylor Anne Hebert**

 **Level: 1**

 **Health: 680 / 680**

 **Mana: 430 / 430**

 **Strength: 54**

 **Vitality: 68**

 **Agility: 51**

 **Dexterity: 89**

 **Intellect: 43**

 **Wisdom: 37**

 **Allocation Points: 0**

 **[-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-]**

 **— Perks —**

 **Body: [Amazonian Physique]**

 **Gamer: [Gamer's Body] - [Gamer's Mind] - [Gamer's Inventory]**

 **Strength: [Refined Musculature]**

 **Vitality: [Second Wind]**

 **Agility: [Fleet Footed]**

 **Dexterity: [Superior Balance]**

 **[-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-]**

 **— Spells —**

 **Physical: [Reinforcement Lv.37]**

 **Non-Elemental: [Mana Bolt Lv.8] - [Mana Barrier Lv.47] - [Mana Shield Lv.68] - [Mana Rope Lv.14] - [Mana Web Lv.18] - [Mana Chain Lv.22] - [Mana Whip Lv.5] - [Mana Stake Lv.5]**

 **[-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-]**

 **— Techniques —**

 **Mental: [Meditation Lv.12] - [Multitasking Lv.8] - [Speed Reading Lv.27] - [Memorization Lv.17]**

 **Physical: [Self-Control Lv.27] - [Flexibility Lv.33]**

 **Senses: [Hearing Lv.18] - [Touch Lv.16] - [Sight Lv.12] - [Taste Lv.7] - [Smell Lv.19]**

 **[-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-]**

 **— Skills —**

 **Mastery: [Mystic Arts Lv.19] - [Production Arts Lv.13] - [Tech Arts Lv.4] - [Entertainment Arts Lv.4] - [Charismatic Arts Lv.7] - [Medical Arts Lv.12] - [Domestic Arts Lv.31] - [Movement Arts Lv.47] - [Combat Arts Lv.3] - [Stealth Arts Lv.19]**

 **Mitigation: [Physical Endurance Lv.19] - [Poison Resistance Lv.23] - [Esoteric Resistance Lv.7]**

 **[-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-]**

A happy giggle escaped her lips as she reviewed the progress she'd made over the past month and a half since getting her power. The time that she'd been at home, ever since very nearly dying in a locker, then realizing she was a parahuman in the hospital. It was kind of hard to miss when she had floating blue screens popping up, since almost any action she took made one of her mastery-type skills progress in some way. No matter what she did.

That could be rather embarrassing sometimes.

Taylor dropped and flipped, landing on the balls of her feet with a smooth and controlled motion, then stretched out her back with a pleased moan before reaching for a bottle of water. Despite not needing such things, it was still a guilty pleasure. Nice cool water was always very good when working up a sweat.

Rolling her shoulders, she stared doing lunges that stretched the fabric of her lycra shorts. It was almost a shame that she wasn't going back to Winslow, because she'd _love_ to rub in the fact that she actually has an ass now to Emma. Then again, she'd also be tempted to punch the queen bitch in the face. Seeing as she could kill people with her bare hands now, that's a big no-no.

The sound of an alarm going off made her halt mid-lunge. "Yes!"

Taylor rushed for the shower upstairs, consciously using her sense techniques to confirm that her father wasn't home, and started stripping on the way without missing a step. One quick sinfully hot shower later, she was sitting on the edge of her bed staring at the screen that told her Final Fantasy XI was done downloading.

"Mwahahaha! Come to mama!"

Taylor clicked play, only to be hit with a seven hour long download for patches and updates. Brow twitching, she calmly opened her [Gamer's Inventory] and stuck her head through the portal to a personal pocket dimension. Anybody who says that she was screaming is a dirty liar, no matter how many [Screams of Impotent Rage] and [Screams of Utter Despair] she managed to stack up.

 **I-O-I**

 **I—I**

 **I-O-I**

Taylor quite enjoyed her time playing as a tarutaru in the wide world of Vana'diel. Heck, she even made some progress while exploring the Republic of Bastok and exploring Gustaberg. Being in no real rush, she took her time leveling all of the starting jobs while just exploring the starter area and familiarizing herself with the game, even going so far as to look up tips.

Learning to use macros and such was not difficult at all.

Being a squishy little taru she found herself gravitating towards the more magically inclined classes, black mage, white mage, and red mage, not that she minded that much.

The most bizarre part for her was how many people were just _friendly._ It was like the Twilight Zone or something. One person literally just gave her one hundred thousand gil and told her a couple of pieces of important knowledge, like information about subjobs, spells, and skill levels.

Taylor did feel a little sad when she realized that the game, Final Fantasy, felt more like home than _home._

 **I-O-I**

 **I—I**

 **I-O-I**

Taylor savored the divine flavor of a breakfast scramble she'd made, absently noting the [Production Arts] and [Domestic Arts] were giving her the intuition to become a _very_ good cook indeed. If this kept up, it was definitely a career to consider for her civilian identity.

"You gonna be okay, kiddo?" Danny asked, pausing on his way out the door.

Taylor hummed aloud. "I'll be fine, dad."

Danny gave her a long look. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Taylor smiled at the worry in his voice. "Arcadia shouldn't be nearly as bad as Winslow."

"Don't be afraid to call if you need a ride home early."

"Dad." Her lips quirked into a slight smile. "I've got this."

Danny sighed. "I know kiddo, I'm just worried. I'm allowed to be worried, right?"

"You are," Taylor admitted wryly. "Now go before I have to explain to Kurt why you were late, again."

Danny held his hands up in surrender. "I'm going! I'm going!"

A soft sigh escaped her lips as the door shut behind him, her sensitive hearing picking up the sound of the old step creaking, a step she resisted the urge to repair. It was a good inconspicuous alarm, in a manner of speaking. One that she could heard from all the way down in the basement if need be. That was the only reason she hadn't used her rising [Production Arts] skill to repair the old decrepit step the moment she was good enough to do so.

Making her way up the stairs, Taylor mused upon what she should wear. On the one hand, she could stick with the usual fare. Baggy jeans and hoodies still fit, but most of her clothes were snug at best these days. Loose t-shirts had become rather tight, for various reasons, even if her bust was still on the small side.

Amazons were not known for their big boobs, unless it's porn... which she wouldn't know anything about!

Honestly, she needed to go shopping pretty badly for new clothes, but money was an issue. It would be pretty trivial to make money using her power, in several different ways—not all of them legal—but she didn't want to leave her nice safe home. Not when she didn't have to, that is. School wasn't something she could avoid, it would feel like letting the trio win if she dropped out, no matter how easy it would be to get a general education degree.

No, Taylor wanted to improve her grades beyond what they had been back before Winslow. Back when she was accepted to Arcadia, but had chosen to go to Winslow for that backstabbing psycho bitch she used to think of as a sister. Quite possibly the worst mistake of her life, now that she thought of it.

Blinking owlishly, her dark eyes landed on a ball of yarn and an old crochet needle. Smiling, Taylor realized that she could _make_ her own clothes with the right materials.

Another project for later, she supposed.

 **I-O-I**

 **I—I**

 **I-O-I**

Hands in the pockets of her hoodie, braided ponytail swaying in the breeze, Taylor stared up at her new four story tall school. The world was so much more clear these days, seeing as she had better than perfect vision. Staring at the two adjacent buildings that made up Arcadia High, she was a bit mystified to note that there wasn't a single gang tag on either of the buildings.

Winslow's facilities had been _covered_ in them.

Tightening the strap of her bag slung over one shoulder, she calmly blended into the crowd of students walking through high-tech metal detectors positioned at the main gate. Joke's on them seeing as she has plenty of knives in her [Inventory]. Just in case, of course. Never know when you might need to stab the heck out of... things. This _is_ Brockton Bay, after all. You can't go a day without hearing about some person being mugged. Not that she would be stabbing people, nope. Surely [Combat Arts], despite its low level, would give her enough intuition to properly grapple someone. The biggest worry would be not breaking them like a twig, but that's what [Self-Control] is for, which she really should focus on leveling up more...

Humming the Gustaberg ost under her breath, she entered the smaller building between the two larger ones. It was here that the staff offices and such were. It was here that she could find her schedule, seeing as she was transferring in. It was here that she would meet... _the principal._

Taylor resisted the urge to turn back and run for the hills. Winslow's faculty had left her with major trust issues regarding teachers.

If the principal turned out to be anything like Blackwell, Taylor was going to find out if she could get experience by punching people in the face. Hopefully [Self-Control Lv.39] was high enough to keep her from killing someone with a punch, and [Gamer's Mind] would be enough to keep her calm, no matter how much she hated having that perk active at any level of power.

A perk that would suppress her emotions to various levels.

Taylor swore to never turn it all the way on.

 **I-O-I**

 **I—I**

 **I-O-I**

"You alright?"

"Hmm?" Taylor hummed.

"I said are you alright?"

Taylor blinked owlishly at the boy snapping his fingers. "I think I'm in shock. Give me a minute."

The boy offered her a worried look. "Shock?"

"Yes, the principal... seemed to be a genuinely kind man."

"That's shocking?" he asked dubiously.

Taylor nodded sagely. "You have no idea."

"Right..." The boy shook his head. "I'm gonna go to class now, you okay?"

"Yup." Taylor nodded as she opened her planner and looked at the map, comparing it to her class list. "I've got this." Coughing, she flipped the planner right-side-up. "You didn't see that."

The boy laughed. "Sure I didn't."

Taylor glared at the evil soulless ginger. "I'm glad you see things my way."

He grinned widely and offered a hand. "Dennis."

"Taylor," she replied in kind, not taking his hand. "I will bite you."

Dennis chuckled and dropped it. "Feisty."

"I prefer kinky," Taylor retorted, then blushed bright red.

He laughed, loudly.

Taylor quickly walked around a corner then jumped out a window, putting her stealth skills to use to make a break for it. While doing this, she noted that she needs to be careful with her mouth. All of the things she'd heard people saying in games, and the way she liked to talk in game, had obviously bled into real life.

Ten minutes later she walked into her math class and froze.

Dennis waved with a wide grin. "Taylor! What a coincidence!"

Taylor groaned into her palms. "Why!?"

 **I-O-I**

 **I—I**

 **I-O-I**

"Need help with anything?" Dennis asked after the bell rang.

Taylor shook her head as she packed. "Nope. I've always been good at math and I studied before transferring. I'm good."

Dennis got up as he finished packing. "Let me know if you don't get anything, I have a lot of practice helping out a friend who has trouble with more complicated math stuff."

"Math stuff," Taylor parroted blandly. "Is my kind of stuff. I seriously doubt I'll need any help with it. Thanks for the offer though."

Dennis shrugged. "I know what it's like to be the new kid, so..."

"I see." Taylor got up and slung on her backpack. "Welp, I've gotta get to... Life. What the heck kind of class is that?"

Dennis snickered. "You know how you need one health class credit and one physical education credit to graduate?"

Taylor nodded slowly.

"It's both in one elective," Dennis explained. "Five months of health class, five months of random gym stuff."

Taylor hummed agreeably as she reached into her backpack, pulling a container of freshly baked caramel pecan cookies from her [Inventory], and cracked it open. "Want one?"

Dennis offered her a wide-eyed look. "You carry around cookies?"

"Made them this morning." Taylor shrugged. "Is that a no?"

"No!" Dennis flinched. "I mean yes!"

Taylor giggled as he took one.

"Holy crap this is good!" He grasped her hands. "Marry me!"

Taylor blushed and smacked him upside the head with her tupperware container. "Bad! Bad! Bad!"

"Ack! Cut it out! Oi!" Dennis ducked for cover, laughing. "Don't ruin the cookies, woman!"

 **I-O-I**

 **I—I**

 **I-O-I**

"Hebert!"

"Yes sir?"

"Gym uniform is black shorts and a white t-shirt." Coach Forest checked her attendance box. "I won't mark you off, since this is your first day, but I expect it from now on."

Taylor idly noted that a Winslow teacher would have docked her points for it. "Thank you, Coach."

The man nodded and started calling out more names.

"First day?"

Taylor looked to her side at the person who'd spoken, a petite brunette girl. What did the Coach say her name was... "Renee Falmer, right?"

Renee nodded. "Good memory."

 _'[Memorization Lv.29],'_ Taylor snarked in thought. "I've been told that."

Renee smiled softly. "This is a really easy gym class, not like weightlifting or anything. All we have to do is run or walk laps around the basketball court for ten minutes, then we're free to do whatever we want. Do you play any sports?"

Taylor shook her head.

"That's a shame," Renee commented. "You're definitely tall enough to be on the school team for volleyball, track, or basketball, just based on height alone."

Taylor knew that it's illegal for parahumans with augmented physical abilities to participate in sports with regular people, and would hate to ruin the chances of a team if her status ever came out, so she wouldn't be doing that.

Half an hour later Taylor found herself sitting on the bleachers chatting with Renee, much to her own shock. It was almost like making friends was _easy._ Taylor was resisting the urge to go play volleyball or basketball and show off her new physical prowess, since there was a risk of outing herself as a parahuman. In the end, she'd decided it was best to do as little as possible until her [Self-Control] was at a higher level. "Cold?"

Renee nodded, rubbing her arms.

"Wanna wear my hoodie?" Taylor offered.

"You don't mind?"

"Nope."

"Then, yes please."

Taylor unzipped her hoodie and took it off, missing the wide-eyed look Renee shot her t-shirt clad amazonian body. "Here ya' go."

"...right thanks." Renee bit her lip. "You work out?"

Taylor snorted out a laugh. "That wasn't a pick up line, right?"

The smaller girl blushed a bit. "No!"

Taylor snickered. "I work out, yeah."

"It shows." Renee hummed. "So you've only been playing games for a little over a month now?"

Taylor nodded as she leaned back, propping her elbows on the seat behind of her. "Yes. I've gotten pretty into them. Love it. Especially role playing games. I spent all of my savings on them. No impulse control, at all, when I went to Gamestop."

The girl snickered in commiseration. "Play any mmo's?"

"Final Fantasy XI."

"Ah, I play WoW."

"I was thinking of giving that a try eventually, but I'm really enjoying Final Fantasy right now..."

Taylor was totally oblivious to how many people were checking her out ever since she took off the hoodie.

 **I-O-I**

 **I—I**

 **I-O-I**

Taylor's dark hazel eyes narrowed in concentration, even as she straightened her back and prepared to turn around, lunch tray with crummy pizza in hand. It was time to face the most daunting part of her day... lunch. For you see, lunch in highschool is not something so simple as eating, nay, 'tis a cruel crucible of societal pressures. Packs are formed and lines are drawn as groups of like-minded individuals gather, excluding those who are lacking in social grace.

This, she knew well, having spent almost every single one of her lunches hiding under stairs, in bathrooms, or—

"Taylor! Over here!"

Taylor perked up. Could it be? Truly!? "Me?"

Dennis snorted at the look on her face. "Yes you, want to meet my friends?"

In her heart of hearts she thanked this kind soulless ginger for his actions, promising to pray to make his eventual inevitable damnation less painful. If he did not share the same hair color as the bitch of betrayal, she may even have considered him dating material. That was an odd thought, actually. These days she might have the confidence to date someone. Huh.

Taylor approached the table full of cruel and spiteful children with poise and grace. "Helfwo..."

A beat of silence passed.

Dennis started chortling in glee.

Taylor promised that her tongue would _pay_ for betraying her as they laughed at her verbal gaffe. "People bite their tongues all the time, it is a thing, it happens!"

Dennis laughed louder.

A tall dark skinned boy with pretty good posture shook his head and smiled at her. "Sorry about that, it was just kind of cute."

"Nice to eat you." Taylor blinked, cheeks reddening. "Meet you! Nice to meet you!"

He laughed awkwardly.

The shorter brown haired boy next to him spared her further embarrassment. "I'm Chris, he's Carlos, and you know Dennis."

Taylor nodded, blushing. "You are?"

The last person at the table looked up from her book and froze.

Taylor froze up too. **_"Madison."_**

Madison stared back like a deer in the headlights.

Taylor's eyes blanked as she turned on her heel and walked away, throwing her lunch in the trash on the way out.

All eyes fell on the petite brunette.

"What the hell was that about?" Dennis asked, frowning.

"Be right back!" Madison said quickly, pushing aside her lunch and jogging away.

 **I-O-I**

 **I—I**

 **I-O-I**

"I'm sorry!"

Taylor blinked owlishly as Madison bowed on hands and knees, an odd feeling in her throat. "You're... sorry?"

Madison averted her gaze. "Yes. I'm sorry, okay? For everything."

"Why?" Taylor sighed. "Why are you even here?"

"I..." Madison bit her lip. "I'm not supposed to say, but you of all people deserve to know."

Taylor folded her arms and quirked a brow, leaning back against the wall under the stairs. It was only thanks to [Gamer's Mind] suppressing fifty percent of her emotions that she was anywhere near as calm as she was right now. "I'm listening."

Madison took a deep breath. "It was bullying. I knew some of the stuff Emma and Sophia did was really bad, and nothing I say can make things right, but... I just didn't stop to _think._ I was too absorbed with my new popularity. Then the locker happened and you almost _died."_

Taylor gulped, her heart beating hard at the memories. "Could we not talk about it?"

Madison flushed red. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"It's fine," Taylor cut her off. "You were saying?"

"I folded on Sophia and Emma," Madison admitted quietly. "Then Sophia tried to murder me in my own room that night and I triggered. I had a broadhead bolt sticking out of my gut. I... you can't... bleeding out was... In the end I got superpowers out of it, so I joined the Wards, and then they transferred me here to Arcadia. That's why I'm here. Emma is... not right in the head, so they put her in an asylum for now, but Sophia is in juvie pending jail."

"You have powers?" Taylor asked, a whole flurry of emotions inside of her and most of them _not good._

"I'm a Probationary Ward because of the bullying, so I'm mostly here because it's where the other Wards can keep an eye on me," Madison admitted tiredly, mass under supple flesh rippling as she grew into the body of a buff six foot tall beefcake with _muscles that had muscles on their muscles._ "Yeah," she said, voice _deep._ "I got powers. I'm a self-biokinetic and tactile telekinetic."

Taylor's cheeks pinked, her recent exposure to nerds telling her exactly how a shape shifting power might be used for things children ought not see. All would truly be forgiven if she could just get her paws on those yummy, tasty, sinfully delicious looking abs. It wasn't like Madison did anything a regular bully wouldn't, which while still bad, wasn't totally unforgivable. The new-type also sang like a canary and was apologizing.

Yes, Taylor was going to do the heroic thing. Forgiveness. Be the bigger person. Yes. For all the right reasons. That's it, really. Now, how to convince Madison to let her rub melted chocolate all over those sexy, sexy, _sexy_ pecs and slowly lick—

"You're thinking out loud!" Madison shouted, blushing to her roots.

"Oops..." Taylor blushed back. "Want a cookie?"

"Don't change the subject!"

 **I-O-I**

 **I—I**

 **I-O-I**

History is an incredibly boring class when you have supernaturally enhanced memory, Taylor realized.

Idly, she amused herself by folding paper into origami. No need to stop grinding her skills and stats, even in the middle of class. No matter how much diminishing returns was kicking in and making raising her stats themselves difficult. The entire day of school had only gotten her _one_ point in intellect. Then again, she had been grinding her stats religiously since first getting her power.

Regardless, Taylor was not about to complain.

 _'Grind, grind, grind...'_

 **I-O-I**

 **I—I**

 **I-O-I**

Taylor waved to the library lady, who recognized her on sight these days, and made her way to the do it yourself section. It took her very little effort to locate several books on weaving, leatherworking, and metalworking in general. There were also quite a few on armor, the sort of stuff she would need to know while making her costume.

Something was tickling at the back of her mind. [Mystic Arts] and [Production Arts] gave her a rather intuitive understanding of their respective domains, so she was almost positive she could craft actual magical items with her power. It would just take a bit of experimentation, and if she was right, her gamer power would pick up the slack. The problem was finding somewhere to actually make her equipment and getting money for materials.

Every single day she was more and more tempted to join the Wards.

Taylor was not happy with the state of her city, of Brockton Bay. It wasn't a nice place, really. Between the three largest gangs, several villain groups, and general human dickery, you could not go one day without seeing or hearing about _some_ kind of crime. The PRT, Protectorate, and Wards were the only ones who seemed to be really trying to do something about it.

New Wave, an independent hero team, wasn't really there. The only one that regularly patrolled was Glory Girl, otherwise known as Collateral Damage Barbie, and that was because she liked beating the crap out of people. Panacea was around, but she was a healer and spent all of her time dealing with the _aftermath._

Back when Taylor first got her powers she hadn't gone straight to the PRT because of how weak she was. The Gamer had been clear about that, put it in _numbers_ for her to see. Then she hadn't gone because of her reluctance to socialize, but between gaming with people and actually enjoying school for the first time in what felt like forever, having a social life seemed much less a problem.

Madison was also a Ward, so she at least knew one person. A genuinely repentant one that seemed to want to make things right, and as such, was willing to bend over backwards for her. Taylor still blushed when she remembered that Madison had been willing to let her do the chocolate oil treatment. Not that she'd actually do it, they're called fantasies for a reason! George Costanza isn't the best role model, probably...

Though, Madison did seem oddly disappointed when—

Nope!

Moving on!

The largest hurdle was her father. To join the Wards she would need his approval, which meant telling him that she had powers in the first place. That... hmm... tomorrow morning? Maybe?

 **I-O-I**

 **I—I**

 **I-O-I**

Danny Hebert groggily opened his eyes.

Taylor stared down from inches away.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Taylor!?"

"Dad!?"

"What the hell!?"

"I'm a Cape!"

"What!?"

"Gotta go!" Taylor pat his cheek. "K-thx-bye-now!"

Danny stared up at the heavens and blamed god as she ran out the door. It was only when he went to get up and track her down that he realized he was tied to his bed with glowing blue ropes. "Taylor!"

* * *

 **~ Taylor's Stuffs! ~**

 **[-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-]**

 **Name: Taylor Anne Hebert**

 **Level: 1**

 **Health: 790 / 790**

 **Mana: 670 / 670**

 **Strength: 59**

 **Vitality: 79**

 **Agility: 63**

 **Dexterity: 94**

 **Intellect: 67**

 **Wisdom: 58**

 **Allocation Points: 0**

 **[-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-]**

 **— Perks —**

 **Body: [Amazonian Physique]**

 **Gamer: [Gamer's Body] - [Gamer's Mind] - [Gamer's Inventory]**

 **Strength: [Refined Musculature]**

 **Vitality: [Second Wind]**

 **Agility: [Fleet Footed]**

 **Dexterity: [Superior Balance]**

 **Intellect: [Apt Learner]**

 **Wisdom: [Iron Will]**

 **[-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-]**

 **— Spells —**

 **Physical: [Reinforcement Lv.44]**

 **Non-Elemental: [Mana Bolt Lv.10] - [Mana Barrier Lv.58] - [Mana Shield Lv.79] - [Mana Rope Lv.19] - [Mana Web Lv.42] - [Mana Chain Lv.31] - [Mana Whip Lv.9] - [Mana Stake Lv.18]**

 **[-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-]**

 **— Techniques —**

 **Mental: [Meditation Lv.29] - [Multitasking Lv.18] - [Speed Reading Lv.41] - [Memorization Lv.29]**

 **Physical: [Self-Control Lv.39] - [Flexibility Lv.45]**

 **Senses: [Hearing Lv.24] - [Touch Lv.19] - [Sight Lv.22] - [Taste Lv.13] - [Smell Lv.21]**

 **[-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-]**

 **— Skills —**

 **Mastery: [Mystic Arts Lv.27] - [Production Arts Lv.19] - [Tech Arts Lv.7] - [Entertainment Arts Lv.9] - [Charismatic Arts Lv.11] - [Medical Arts Lv.13] - [Domestic Arts Lv.38] - [Movement Arts Lv.54] - [Combat Arts Lv.5] - [Stealth Arts Lv.24]**

 **Mitigation: [Physical Endurance Lv.21] - [Poison Resistance Lv.24] - [Esoteric Resistance Lv.11]**

 **[-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-]**

* * *

Author's Note!

Yes, this is yet another attempt by a new author at a Worm Gamer story, but I've cut out a lot of the more difficult bits. This version of The Gamer power is a form of _localized reality manipulation._ Taylor will not be making dungeons, people do not have stats like her, it is completely self-contained. Think of it like the ultimate training tool that breaks the limiters on human capabilities, while also granting a reserve of energy that can be used to do _magic._

I'm also skipping a lot of the munchkin training, because we Gamer fans have seen that a thousand times by now, and getting straight to the meatier bits of the story. I apologize to those of you who like that kind of stuff. There is going to be a little bit of it in there, but for the most part, it will happen in the background, if at all.

Also, I'm a shameless fan of MadisonIsBrowbeat, so I decided to put that in my story too. Browbeat does not get enough love for how freaking awesome his power is in my opinion. I've boosted the self-biokinetic aspect a bit though, since I'm pretty sure canon Browbeat would not have been able to make himself look like a little girl. At least, not that quickly or easily.

I'm writing this without a backlog, off the cuff, and have no clue where it's going. There is literally _zero_ planning going into this. Obviously, this can only end horribly. I wrote three different Worm pilot chapters for fics yesterday, and this was the one that was least depressing, so I'm going with it. Given the sheer amount of Worm fanfic I've read, I figure it's about time I try to contribute to the community.


End file.
